The Storm Breaker Job
by Shara Raizel
Summary: Under their new cover as members of "Leverage Consulting & Associates," the team take on a job to get justice for wounded veteran Cpl. Rider, who was shot by a government contractor in Iraq. The game changes, however, when they realize that Rider was not shot by accident, but to keep him from talking about something. Something that the team realizes may involve a US congressman.
1. Leverage Inc

Well here's the start to the highly requested sequel and story/episode 2 in my Leverage Inc. series. This fic takes place roughly a month after The Gamer Job, so if you haven't read that fic yet, I highly suggest that you go do so. I had intended to post the whole story like I had last time with the first installment of the series, but I had a lot of other fics I needed to update for Christmas so I just didn't have time to write more that the first chapter and half of the second for this. I DID, however, write a Christmas special that is a part of this series-verse, so after you're done reading this chapter, go check that one out. It takes place 3 months after this fic. I hope you all enjoy reading this, and like the first story, keep an eye out for Easter eggs! I think I'm going to make that a thing for this series (or at least with the main episode-based fics.) Enjoy! :)

* * *

><p>The Storm Breaker Job – Part 1: Leverage Inc.<p>

LOCATION: Los Angeles General Hospital Rehab Department

Saguru Hakuba entered the clinic, looking for his potential client. The nurse at the front desk had pointed him towards the rehab room. All around him there were wounded army and military personnel going through their rehab programs aided by physical therapists and nurses. It was in the back corner of the room that he found Corporal Alex Rider waiting for him. Alex was the son of an old friend of Saguru's mother's from her college days. John and Helen Rider had moved to America before Alex had been born, so Saguru had only heard about the young man who was only a few years younger than he was.

The last time he'd been in London, Saguru had told his mother that he was starting a consulting agency with some old "friends." When she'd heard that the son of her old friend needed help, she'd called and asked Saguru to check things out since he was setting up shop in California anyway.

"Alex Rider?" Saguru said, nodding in greeting at the young man seated in a wheel chair.

"Yeah. Saguru Hakuba, right?" Alex said, tripping over the pronunciation of the foreign name. He sat up straighter to better reach up and shake Saguru's hand.

"You can call me by my middle name, James," Saguru told him. "It's what most of my English speaking friends call me. Easier to pronounce."

"Thanks," Alex chuckled. "Mum called and told me you were coming. She said that you could help."

"I think our mothers have been chatting a little too much, but I'm always happy to help family friends," Saguru smiled. "I promise to do what I can, so what is it that you want my help with, Alex?"

"Have you ever heard of Storm Breaker?"

"Can't say that I have. Why?"

"Watch this," Alex said, pulling out a laptop he had stowed in a bag attached to his wheelchair. A video was already pulled up featuring Alex in his army cammies and gear. He played the video.

"_All right sweetheart, we are near Najaf. I'm not allowed to say exactly where_," the Alex on screen said before looking away from the camera and turned it towards another soldier. "_Hey, Paul! Say hello to Fiona_."

"_He's cheating on ya!_" Paul said. "_With a camel. A drunk, slutty camel._"

The camera moved back to Alex.

"_All right, it was one time, okay, and the camel's been texting me but it's over, I promise_…"

While Alex had been talking, there was the beeping sound of a vehicle's backup alarm going off in the background.

"_Hello_," Paul said off screen. "_PSD_."

Alex turned the camera to show a canvassed truck with a symbol that looked like a battery with a lightning bolt on top of it.

"_See those guys?"_ Alex asked. "_Private contractors. They make seven hundred bucks a day. I make seven._"

"_Yeah_," Paul scoffed, "_but you know what they gotta do? They gotta-_"

Whatever Alex's army buddy was going to say was cut off when men started shouting and gunfire began to crackle over the laptop's speakers. Paul went down, taking several shots in the chest.

"_Shots fired! Shots fired! Go, go! Go red!_" a commanding officer was yelling in the background. Alex dropped the camera and static filled the screen before going dark. The real Alex in the present stopped the video and shut the laptop, lips pursed.

"Is Fiona your girlfriend?" Saguru asked.

"She was, but…" Alex trailed off, hands gripping his wheelchair's armrests.

"I'm sorry," Saguru said sincerely.

"I'm not mad," Alex insisted. "It happens. Look, I don't want charity."

"My team and I are not a charity," Saguru assured him.

"Look, James… I just want my rehab. If I'm gonna work – and I _want_ to work – Dr. Jones says I need another year and a half of hardcore rehab, maybe two more surgeries. Storm Breaker shot me up. I just want them to pay my bills, no more, no less.

"I see," Saguru sighed. "The army investigation determined, what? That you were hit by insurgents?"

"Yeah," Alex scowled. "That's because Storm Breaker refused to cooperate in the investigation."

"And they can do that," Saguru frowned. It sounded like Storm Breaker had covered up the whole incident.

"Nobody's stopping them," Alex said. "They're Yanks. Cowboys. They go off all the time, boom, boom, boom. I just want them to do right by me."

Alex moved to pull out the flash drive that Saguru only just noticed was plugged into to the laptop's USB port.

"Pardon me, Mr. …?"

Saguru and Alex looked up and saw one of the doctors standing nearby. She was frowning at Saguru.

"Oh, uh, Saguru James Hakuba. You're Dr. Jones?"

"Can I talk to you outside?" she asked crisply.

"Doc, he's cool," Alex protested. "His mum knows by mum and I checked him out on the internet."

"Yes, that never goes badly," Dr. Jones said sarcastically before turning her attention back to Saguru. "With me, please."

"I'll be in touch," Saguru assured Alex, taking the flash drive offered to him before following the good doctor out of the room and then the hospital altogether. It appeared that he was being escorted off the premises.

"You can't just come in here and get his hopes up!" Dr. Jones said crossly once they were clear of the building's front doors.

"I'm just here to provide options," Saguru informed her.

"That are no options," Dr. Jones sighed.

"The Veteran's hospital," Saguru started to suggest, but she cut him off.

"Is four-hundred miles away and has a five month waiting list. Everybody in that rehab room is a reservist. When reservists get out they get sent home no matter where home is or how far it is from the treatment they need. Nobody thought this through. We're not a rich hospital. I cashed in every favor I had to take care of these kids for as long as I could, but I have to go back in there and tell Alex that we can't treat him anymore. _I_ have to do that. Run your scam on somebody with money," Dr Jones said crossly.

"It's not a scam," Saguru insisted. "I'm only here to help."

"People don't just show up to help," Dr Jones said softly, but her voice was hard. Protective. She really cared about her patients. "That's not the way the world works."

She gave him one final stern look before walking away and back into the hospital. Saguru sighed, pulling out his phone, hitting speed dial.

"Miyano-san? Call them in. We have a job."

* * *

><p>LOCATION: Hollywood – Audition Room<p>

The directors stared, overwhelmed by the… presence of the young man before them as he cried out his lines passionately, falling to his knees at the end.

"Uh… You are aware that this is a soap commercial, right?" The head director asked.

"Uh huh," Shinichi Kudo nodded, beaming as he rose back up to his feet. "When I thought about Jeff, I came up with this idea that the dirt was this giant metaphor for sin."

Shinichi would have continued, elaborating more on his interpretation of the character Jeff and his motives, but his cellphone went off – not his main one that he had for everyday use, but the one given to him by Shiho for their jobs.

"You should take that," the director said. "_Really_. You should take that."

"Oh," Shinichi said, knowing then and there that he'd failed yet another audition. Not that it mattered anymore. Duty was calling. "Hello? … When?" After getting the details from Shiho, Shinichi hung up and made to exit the room. "Jeff killed his first wife," were his parting words as he stalked out of the audition room.

"Thank you," the director called after him, trading incredulous looks with his fellow casting directors.

* * *

><p>LOCATION: Downtown Los Angeles – Bar Parking Lot<p>

Heiji Hattori huffed as he threw a second unconscious body of a gang member on top of the gangbanger's car and faced the last man in the group that had made the mistake of picking a fight with the hitter. Bastard even had a gun drawn after seeing how easily Heiji had dispatched his friends. Couldn't a guy go to a bar in LA and have a drink in peace without getting into a fight with thugs?

The two started each other down for a moment, gauging how they were going to take the other out, when a phone started ringing.

"That you or me?" Heiji asked, never taking his eyes off the thug.

They guy looked unsure as the phone continued to ring.

"Could be important," Heiji said, face neutral. "Does yer mommy have yer number?"

The man looked down at his pocket. Big mistake. Heiji grabbed the gun, punched the guy in the neck, and down went wanna-be-Rambo, choking. He unloaded the gun's clip and tossed it aside before pulling out his phone, answering it before it could go to voice mail. Good thing too. It was Shiho. Then again, only members of the team had this particular phone's number.

"Yeah?" He answered. "…Nah, nothin'. Why?"

* * *

><p>LOCATION: Los Angeles – The Getty Museum<p>

A guard was walking down a hall of paintings in one of the galleries that had been closed off to the public while sections of it were being remodeled for the new exhibits going in. He examined the paintings as he passed them, pausing in front of one of his favorites. It was one of the many that were being traded to another museum for different paintings that would be displayed in the new gallery exhibit. He turned to look at a few of the other paintings, but when he turned to look back at his favorite one last time he found it missing.

His heart stopped for a moment, only to jump when what sounded like a cellphone rang once above his head.

"Kid," a young man's voice answered.

In the vent above the art gallery, Kid giggled at the shocked look on the guard's face. "No, Miyano-chan, I'm not laughing at you."

After receiving details on where to meet, Kid took pity on the guard, dropping a smoke bomb, to blind him and put the painting back. It was pretty, but not his style. He'd just wanted to see if he could lift the painting with the guard present.

* * *

><p>LOCATION: L.A. Office Building – Leverage Inc. Headquarters<p>

Heiji, Kid and Shinichi looked around as they exited the elevator and headed down the hall towards the office that Shiho had instructed them to meet at. They were excited. They hadn't pulled a job together since a small stint in London where they'd helped a couple get back at a pharmaceutical company that was responsible for marketing a bad product that had been responsible for their daughter's death. It had been a simple and easy, but satisfying con that left the company bankrupt.

They'd all been exploring, doing their own things, and getting to know the L.A. area after they came over to the U.S., while waiting for Shiho and Saguru to find them their next job and set up a base of operations. They hadn't expected it to be an actual office space, however.

"So what'd ya do with yer money?" Heiji asked, just to start a conversation.

"From the first job?" Kid asked.

"Yeah."

"I put all that money away in a Swiss bank account," Kid shrugged.

"Millions 'a dollars and ya didn't buy anything?" Heiji asked incredulously. The guy was a renowned art and jewel thief. He could have bought all the expensive and shiny jewels and gems and works of art that he wanted.

"I don't like stuff," Kid grinned. "I like money."

"I bought a little retirement home, an island," Shinichi told them.

"Nice," Heiji and Kid said.

"In Fiji," Shinichi clarified, then paused for a moment and grinned. "And Hawaii… and another in New York."

"What about you, Hattori?" Kid asked. "What did you do with your millions?"

They'd finally reached the door. There was a small envelope taped to it with Shinichi's name written on it. Shinichi took the envelope and opened it. There were three keys inside. Shinichi gave one of the extra two to Kid and Heiji each.

"Yeah," Heiji snorted. "I'm not about ta tell two known thieves what I did with a multi-million dollar payout."

"Why? Don't you trust us?" Shinichi asked with a playful pout while Kid snickered.

Heiji only gave them a baleful glare, waiting for Shinichi to open the door. Inside, a sign in the main lobby greeted them with the words: Leverage Consulting & Associates. The three looked around in interest at the very nice and professional looking office space they'd just entered.

"Okay," Shinichi said, nodding. Not what he was expecting, but it would certainly do.

"I don' get it," Heiji frowned.

"What is this?" Kid asked.

That is when Shiho walked appeared from further inside the office carrying three file folders, handing one to each of them.

"This, gentlemen, is our new cover story," she told them. "Welcome to Leverage Consulting and Associates, founded in 1913 by the great William J. Leverage the Third."

With a small smirk, she pointed to a painting on the wall next to them of an older man that greatly resembled Saguru. Kid and Heiji almost collapsed, they were laughing so hard.

"Hakuba is going to kill you," Shinichi chuckled.

"D-did you paint that?" Heiji managed to ask between giggle fits.

"I got bored," Shiho shrugged. "I'm told I have a talent."

"Very nice job, Miyano-chan," Kid snickered.

Shiho smiled, happy with their reactions. She'd spent the last few weeks getting the entire office together. Saguru had given her free reign when it came to picking an office space and had trusted her judgment with the décor.

"Now, if you're done laughing your heads off," Shiho said, moving to give them a grand tour of the offices, "lets get back to business. Now, Leverage Inc. is squeaky clean. All corporate taxes are on record as being paid for the last ninety years. All of your identities as partners, your payroll taxes are paid, you guys have pension plans and dental. In your folders you'll find your employment records, case files and company newsletters."

"Wow," Shinichi said, impressed. "You went into a lot of detail. These are FBI, CIA, MI6 detailed quality covers."

"That's the whole point of being thorough," Shiho told him. "I have no interest in being deported back to Japan. I actually like it here."

"Hey!" Kid cried, beaming as he shoved his folder under Heiji's nose. "Last year I won the sack race at the 4th of July picnic. Cool!"

"Will ya get that outta my face," Heiji grumbled, swatting at Kid with his own folder.

"Now," Shiho said, regaining their attention as they passed a series of doors. "These are your offices. You can bring in whatever you'd like, like a photo or little knick-knacks, or a plant. Plants are nice provided you remember to water them. _Nothing_ illegal, like stolen contraband, Kid."

"I know that," Kid pouted. "I'm not stupid you know."

"Miyano-san, I can't believe that you spent your share of the cash on all of this," Shinichi said, though he was very impressed with the set up.

"Me?" Shiho scoffed. "Like hell I did. Hakuba-san paid for all of this with what little he had left and set aside after giving the rest away."

"Whoa," Heiji cried, stopping in his tracks. "Ya mean he gave it all away?"

"Yes," Shiho nodded. "Most of it went to various children's hospitals and cancer research programs."

It got quiet for a moment, as it always did when what happened to Saguru's daughter was even hinted at.

"But _this_," Shiho said, breaking the awkward moment. Now she was excited. This had been her main project for most of the time she'd been setting up the offices. "_This_ is my masterpiece."

She slid opened a pair of doors to a conference room. When the doors opened lights flickered on revealing the blacked out room's interior. Inside was a long table with many comfortable leather backed office swivel chairs around it. One wall was dedicated to a large bank of flat screens.

"Nice," Shinichi said, whistling in admiration at the set up.

"Sweet," Heiji grinned.

"Long version or short?" Shiho asked, barely containing her pride and excitement.

"Short."

"Short version."

"Shortest."

Well that figured, didn't it? But not to be denied, Shiho launched into her explanation, powering up the screens with a remote control and putting the system through its paces as she explained all the features. She was in her element.

"Photo and video forensics programs, back doors into every electronic banking system in the world, running heuristic data crawls over all the news sites to find our clients… Oh! Also…"

"This is the short version?" Kid muttered, head already spinning with the techno talk. Ok, he got it. Very techy and high end and impressive.

"…facial recognition database tied into CIA, NSA, FBI, and MI6. But, the real pièce de résistance," Shiho said before turning on the various TV packages. The boys immediately perked up after zoning out through her techno babble. "Direct TV HD Ultimate Premium Package. We got everything from daytime television to sports. We have all the major channels including HBO, CBS, NBC, ABC, and the Home Shopping Network. I even thought to include the Total Sports Package for you guys. We have the NFL, NBA, and I even threw in a little bit of hockey for the heck of it."

"Wow," Heiji said, almost drooling over all the games playing. Shinichi was rather entranced by an intense soccer game that was playing on the top left screen.

"All right, stop kicking the tires," Saguru's voice suddenly said, and then the leader man himself was suddenly standing there in the doorway, smiling in amusement. He held up a flash drive. "Want to take her for a spin?"

Ten minutes later the team was seated around the conference table watching the end of Alex's video.

"Our client is the cameraman. Corporal Alex Rider. He says that the Storm Breaker contractors spooked and started firing," Saguru said when the clip was over.

"5.56 NATO rounds mixed in with some 9 mils from tha sub-machine guns. Insurgents woulda used AK-47s with 7.62 ammo. It has more of a… crack," Heiji said, hitting the back of his hand to his palm. "Contractors shot 'em up all right."

"Did you just ID the weapon from the gunshot sound?" Kid asked, amazed.

"It has a very distinctive sound," Heiji said, shrugging.

"Right," Shiho said, changing the screen to show a series of records. "Storm Breaker Security is pretty hard core. It's a Billion dollar company with fat government contracts everywhere the U.S. has troops. Their CEO is Herod Sayle. He's very paranoid and very professional."

"Hold on here," Heiji said, interrupting. "I want ta get this clear, right now. This is a private army yer talking 'bout taking on. They got their own intel assets and a lot of trigger pullers."

"Yes," Saguru agreed, "and lobbyists in every office in Washington D.C. The problem with a cover-up is all the paperwork it takes to keep the lies straight."

"Like internal e-mails, memos," Shiho said.

"Exactly." Saguru nodded. "So let's go to work."

He got up from his chair and the rest of the team got up and followed him out of the conference room.

"So, we steal the evidence and threaten to expose them," Shinichi mused.

"Blackmail," Kid grinned.

"Yes, but just enough blackmail to pay for Rider's rehab, and maybe a couple million more in damages."

"It'll never hold up in court," Heiji pointed out. "Ya know that."

"Ah," Saguru said, smiling, "but that's why Corporal Rider is lucky. He doesn't have lawyers. He has thieves."

The team smiled, exiting the office, ready to get to work. Saguru held the door for them. He then just so happened to look up and noticed the painting.

"Miyano-san!"

* * *

><p>And there we have Part 1! I'll be sure to post the following chapters as soon as I finish writing them. Hopefully I'll get this story will get done by the end of the year. Please let me know what you think so far!<p>

ALSO! I've posted a new poll to help me prioritize which fan fics I should write regularly so that I can create a new update schedule for the new year. If you want to see regular updates for this series, please go to my profile page and vote!


	2. Cover Up

Part 2 – Cover Up

LOCATION: Storm Breaker Security L.A. Office Building

Heiji grumbled, straightening his tie one more time before collecting his serving tray loaded with champagne flutes and made his way into the party room, passing a sign that read: "Storm Breaker Security welcomes Congressman Anthony Horowitz. Private party. Tickets required." He spotted Saguru among the guests wearing a nice suit.

"Next time, I wear tha suit," he growled as he passed the blond, heading in the direction of Shinichi who was on the other side of the room.

"Sayle is here," Shinichi reported, dressed in a suit of his own. "I'll make contact."

Shinichi took a glass from Heiji as they passed each other.

"Good," Saguru said, spotting Sayle as well. "See what you can get out of him. Kid, Miyano-san, time to hit his office."

* * *

><p>LOCATION: Roof Top<p>

Kid and Shiho were up on the roof decked out in all black and connected to repelling gear. Kid was going through his final checks when Saguru gave them the go-ahead.

"I have to head back to the office. I just remembered something," Shiho said nervously, after peering over the building's edge.

"What?" Kid asked, adjusting Shiho's harness.

"I just remembered gravity," Shiho said, an edge in her voice.

"Relax~," Kid grinned. "I designed this rig myself. The line is carbon fiber. Five point harness. Weight support here, here," he tapped both her shoulders "and here," tapped her chest. "Auto-breaking resistance on the main pulley back here," he finished, tapping the small of her back.

"So it's tested?" Shiho asked, her tension easing just a bit. When he put it like that, it sure sounded safe.

"Not yet," Kid said, making another adjustment to hide his smile. She was too easy to tease.

"Not yet?" Shiho snapped. "When the hell were you going to test it?"

"Now," Kid said as he gave his lovely companion a small push off the roof.

Shiho gasped as she stumbled forward and over the roof's edge. Kid jumped after her in a more controlled dive. He'd fed out the line enough so that she would slow a couple floors above and then stop right outside the windows of their target floor. Shiho was clinging to the line with a white knuckle grip by the time her descent slowed.

"Do that again, Kid, and I'll kill you," she hissed at him once she was capable of words. "And trust me when I say that not even Hakuba-san will be able to find your corpse."

* * *

><p>LOCATION: Private Party<p>

Saguru sighed, able to figure out only too well what had happened. "Okay, Miyano-san. Kid. There are guard sweeps every ten minutes. That means you have nine minutes and twenty-eight seconds."

"_Working on it_," came Shiho's very angry sounding response. Saguru did not envy Kid in the least.

Across the room Herod Sayle was speaking with Congressman Horowitz and Shinichi was approaching them.

"Storm Breaker is going to be very happy with the new Appropriations Bill," Sayle was saying.

"Pardon me, Congressman," Shinichi said, smoothly cutting into the conversation. He was speaking with a British accent he'd perfected over the years after his time in England working alongside Saguru at Cambridge and during his short stint with U.N.I.S. "Lee Williams. I'm with Executive Orders."

"They're a London-based Defense Contractor," Sayle explained to the Congressman before turning his attention to Shinichi. "Herod Sayle. Executive Orders doesn't work for the U.S. government."

"Yet," Shinichi grinned. "Perhaps we can do something about that."

"Yes, well, it was very nice to meet you. Now you'll have to excuse me," Horowitz said, walking away.

"You're not poaching are you?" Sayle frowned, eyes narrowing at Shinichi. "Appropriations Bill 718? Those are our defenses contracts, so don't even bother."

"Mr. Sayle," Shinichi tutted, turning on the charm. He held out a hand. "Surely there's enough war to go around."

Sayle shook his hand, staring him in the eye before smiling.

"Miyano-san, what's this Bill they're talking about?" Saguru asked, watching Shinichi make amiable chatter with Sayle.

* * *

><p>LOCATION: Sayle's Office<p>

Shiho was sitting at the computer typing away while Kid was searching around the office.

"I'd love to give you an answer, Hakuba-san, but this man has an RFID security card reader on his power supply so I'm a little busy at the moment," Shiho muttered, eyes narrowing as she concentrated on getting around the computer's security system.

Kid was feeling a little bored as he searched the place, finding nothing until he moved a painting aside.

"Really?" the thief scoffed. "So old school. I found a safe behind a painting. How cliché can you get?"

"_Focus_," Saguru's' voice said in Kid's ear.

Rolling his eyes, Kid set to work on cracking open the safe. His eyebrows nearly shot up into his hairline when he realized what he was dealing with.

"Ok, not so cliché," he remarked. "You're not going to believe this, you guys. It's voice activated."

* * *

><p>LOACTION: Private Party<p>

"All right, one problem at a time," Saguru sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Kudo, I'm going in. We need to get Sayle's RFID card to Hattori."

Across the room, Shinichi was still making conversation with Sayle.

"My company's focused on meeting senators, but I'm thinking congressmen."

"You know the great thing about congressmen?" Sayle asked. "Fifty, a hundred grand well spent will get one elected, but then once they're in, the incumbency rate is over ninety-five percent so you can get an average eighteen, twenty years' use out of one of them. In these uncertain times, buying a United States congressman is one of the best investments a corporation can make."

"_Ugh,_" Kid scoffed. "_I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. I'm a professional criminal and even I find that disturbing_."

Saguru ignored Kid's comment and took an appetizer off one of the trays waiters and waitresses were carrying around and dipped it in some sauce before moving towards Shinichi and Sayle.

"We've been providing military advisers, internationally, for over forty years," Sayle continued.

"Helping rebels overthrow their governments, Mr. Sayle?" Shinichi asked, eyes lidded in amusement while Saguru passed behind them, wiping a little of the sauce on his appetizer across the back of Sayle's jacket.

"No," Sayle shook his head, but a sharp grin appeared. "Overthrowing the government is too harsh a way to describe it. We just help them along. A kind of collaboration."

Saguru threw the appetizer away and grabbed a napkin, heading back towards Shinichi and Sayle.

"Oh? Is that what you Americans call it?" Shinichi asked, smirking, turning his attention to Saguru as he approached them.

"Sorry, but it appears that you have a little dip on your jacket, sir," Saguru said, pointing to the smear of sauce. He was speaking in a western American accent, much to the team's amusement. Shinichi had wondered why Saguru hadn't posed as the representative from Executive Orders, but Saguru had made the point that he needed Shinichi to distract Sayle so that Saguru could help the others run the operation. It was still funny to listen to Saguru speak in an accent that wasn't British, however. It was only through experience and skill that Shinichi managed to keep a straight face.

While Saguru had Sayle distracted with his jacket, Shinichi lifted the man's wallet and removed the RFID card before putting the wallet back.

"Can you believe this?" Sayle sighed. "First day I've worn this. Thanks."

"Lets see if we can get someone to help you with that," Shinichi said, looking around a bit before spotting Heiji nearby. "Excuse me? Garcon?"

"Yes, sir?" Heiji asked, a polite smile in place as he approached. He spoke with an American accent as well, one more polished than his usual speech.

"I was wondering if you could help us," Shinichi said, slipping the RFID card to Heiji under the tray he was carrying. "We seem to have gotten a little stain on this jacket."

"Oh, look at that," Heiji tisked, sympathetically. "Let me take care of that for you."

"If you could splash a little soda water on it," Shinichi was saying.

"Ah! Hold on a moment," Sayle said, taking his wallet out of his jacket. "Let me keep this. Man of my position shouldn't forget his wallet. That's embarrassing."

Shinichi and Saguru chuckled along with him while Heiji walked away with the jacket and RFID card. He set the tray he was carrying down at one of the tables before sneaking off somewhere private so that no one could see what he was doing.

"There's no magnetic strip," Heiji frowned after examining the card.

* * *

><p>LOCATION: Sayle's Office<p>

"That's because it emits a little radio frequency," Shiho told him. "Just put it up next to the phone I gave you."

She placed her own phone next to the RFID reader on Sayle's desk. After a few seconds the display screen said, "receiving code data." When the transfer was finished she easily got through the rest of the computer's security measures. "I'm in."

Kid, meanwhile was still messing with his own phone and the safe's voice lock.

"_Kid, what's the status on the voice lock?_" Saguru asked.

"I've been sampling Sayle's speech, but I still need a few more sounds," Kid reported.

"_How many?_"

"I only need the sounds, puh, tuh, oo, ah, eh, oh, ah, uh, ke, kuh, a, ef."

* * *

><p>LOCATION: Private Party<p>

"Oh, only those," Saguru huffed sarcastically. He'd excused himself from Sayle and Shinichi's company and was back to being inconspicuous in a corner of the party room. "Hattori."

"I'm on it," Heiji said, grabbing two appetizer trays and headed back towards Shinichi and Sayle. "Hello."

"Ohh, yum," Shinichi said, eyeing the dishes Heiji presented them with.

"Appetizer, sirs?" Heiji asked, looking at Sayle.

"Sure," Sayle shrugged. "What have you got?"

"I've got the pâté d'escargot avec bière d'Argentine and," Heiji frowned at the other dish, "what looks like old duck, kind of greasy."

"I guess I'll have the first one," Sayle said.

"Of course," Heiji said, offering him the second tray with the "duck."

"Well?" Sayle said, looking at Heiji expectantly. "May I have some?"

"The greasy duck?" Heiji frowned.

"Oh, no," Shinichi said, wrinkling his nose. "I wouldn't have the greasy duck."

"No, I wouldn't suggest it," Heiji nodded in agreement.

"No," Sayle huffed in exasperation." The other one."

Heiji raised an eyebrow, his expression one of polite confusion.

"The pâté d'escargot with the bière d'Argentine!" Sayle practically shouted.

"Excellent choice, sir," Heiji grinned, offering the man the first tray.

"Who is this clown?" Sayle scoffed, addressing Shinichi as he took an appetizer.

"_Pretty good_," Kid's voice snickered over the comm. link. "_Got most of them. Okay, now all I need is ef, uh, and kuh._"

"Wait for it," Heiji said, smirking to himself as he turned away from Shinichi and Sayle.

Sayle took a bite of his appetizer and promptly spat it out.

"This is shrimp! It's shrimp you stupid fuck!" he yelled after Heiji's retreating back.

Kid's snickering returned over the line. "_There we go~!"_

"Okay, Kudo, start the walk away," Saguru said, smiling to himself. Heiji winked at him as he passed by.

"I was wondering if I could drop by your office sometime?" Shinichi asked.

"Anytime," Sayle said, smiling politely now that he'd regained his composure.

Shinichi nodded farewell and headed towards Horowitz.

"Kudo, where are you going?" Saguru frowned.

"Playing a hunch," Shinichi mused.

"Fine, but play it fast. Miyano-san, what have you got? You have three minutes."

* * *

><p>LOCATION: Sayle's Office<p>

"Too much," Shiho frowned. "They have all of Rider's medical records. Which, sure, is pretty normal, but they've got psych evaluations, high school records, and they're reading his e-mails."

Kid joined her, sitting on the edge of the desk with a folder he'd taken from the safe.

"They're also tapping his phones," Kid reported. "I've got surveillance photos of Rider here from the hospital yesterday."

"Why spend so much money watching our client?" Shiho asked. "I mean, investigations of the shooting were done months ago."

* * *

><p>LOCATION: Private Party<p>

Saguru felt his stomach drop, thinking back to the trucks they'd seen in Rider's video. "Because it's not about the shooting. The cover-up has nothing to do with the shooting. It's about the trucks Alex saw and recorded on his camera."

Putting aside the feeling of unease Shinichi felt upon hearing Saguru's statement he approached Horowitz. "Congressman."

"Yes?" Horowitz said, smiling politely at Shinichi.

"Your support on the next Appropriations Bill would be very helpful." Shinichi smiled back.

"We've already earmarked the no-bid contracts for Storm Breaker. They deserve it."

"Nobody's perfect," Shinichi shrugged. "Look at all the trouble they had with the shooting in Najaf."

"I'm sorry," Horowitz said, shifting a bit – a sign of nerves. "I don't really follow that sort of news. I just review the contracts."

"Of course," Shinichi said, bowing his head.

"Excuse me," Horowitz said, hurrying away.

"Lets go," Saguru hissed at Shinichi from behind. "Kid, Miyano-san, bug out and head back to the office. Kudo, Hattori and I are going to the hospital."

"_Do you need to talk to Rider again?_" Kid asked.

"The shooting wasn't an accident," Saguru said softly, but urgently. "Alex, isn't a victim, he's a witness. Does Storm Breaker strike you as the kind of company to leave a witness alive?"

Heiji rejoined them while Saguru was speaking and traded a worried look with Shinichi as they followed Saguru out of the building.

* * *

><p>LOCATION: Los Angeles General Hospital Hallway<p>

"He's not in his damn room," Saguru huffed in agitation as he and Shinichi hurried out of the room assigned to Alex Rider.

Elsewhere in the hospital Heiji was putting on a doctor's coat he'd taken from a now unconscious intern.

"I'm checking all the corridors that are connected to the exterior doors," he reported.

"Where could he be?" Shinichi asked. "You don't think they got to him already, do you?"

"There were no signs of a disturbance in his room," Saguru shook his head.

He frowned, trying to think of where Alex could be. Then he got an idea and hurried off towards the rehab room he'd first met Alex in. Sure enough, Alex was there alone practicing walking on the handbars.

"Sorry, doc," Alex huffed, "I know it's closed but," then he caught sight of who had entered. "James?"

"We have to get you out of here," Saguru said, grabbing a wheelchair and moved it in front of Alex. "_Now_."

"Why?"

"Storm Breaker. Come on."

Shinichi helped Saguru get Alex into the chair.

"Friend of yours, James?" Alex asked, noticing that Saguru wasn't alone. "Alex Rider."

"Shinichi Kudo," Shinichi smiled. "Lets get you some place safe."

Elsewhere, Heiji scanned the hallways, and passed two large men in doctor's coats.

"Hakuba, get him clear, I can't find-!"

"Excuse me!" Opps. Busted. Heiji had just passed one of the nurse's stations. "Do you work on this floor?"

"I, uh…" Smooth, Heiji. "What floor is this? I'm in orthopedics so…"

It was at that moment that Heiji happened to look down at the nurse's feet and saw that she was wearing Crocks. The two men he'd just passed had been wearing boots. Shit. Heiji spun around and hurried after them.

"Hey!" the nurse cried after him, but he ignored her.

Further down the hall Saguru, Shinichi and Alex had just reached the elevators, and so had the two men. Saguru noticed them checking rooms and Heiji could be seen racing towards them silently from behind. One of the men spotted Alex and pulled out a knife.

"Get the elevator," Saguru ordered Shinichi.

Thinking fast, Saguru grabbed a nearby gurney and pushed it down the hallway to block the two men's path. That's when Heiji reached them. The hitter shoved one of the men into the wall and then knocked the second one into the gurney, flipping him to the ground. The first man came back at Heiji with a knife, but Heiji deflected it easily and punched him in the gut. He spun around in time to dodge a second knife from the other man who'd recovered from being flipped over the gurney. Grabbing an IV pole, Heiji deflected a second jab from the blade and used the pole to knock the man to the ground and punched him several times to incapacitate him. That was one down for sure.

"James!" Alex cried out, pushing a defibrillator towards Saguru.

Saguru grabbed the paddles. Heiji saw what the others had in mind, so when the other guy got up and tried to get him with the knife again, he grabbed his arm and pushed him in Saguru's direction.

"Hello," Saguru smiled, pressing the defibrillator paddles to the man's chest when he stopped right in front of him, setting off the charge. The man went flying and was rendered unconscious. It was at that moment that the elevator doors finally dinged and opened behind Shinichi and Alex.

"Go," Saguru ordered, holding the elevator doors open while Heiji took a bag off of one of the attackers before joining them.

* * *

><p>LOCATION: Leverage Conference Room<p>

Heiji emptied the contents of the bag he'd taken from one of the attackers onto the table. There was a money clip, a pack of cigarettes, a note, another knife, a pair of sunglasses and a gun. With a sneer of disgust Heiji unloaded the gun and Shiho checked the serial numbers. Shinichi picked up the note and read it aloud.

"I can't live with the pain, I'm so sorry… this is a suicide note," Shinichi scowled.

"And the gun is registered in Alex Rider's name. The bill of sale belongs to a gunshop a mile from his house," Shiho reported.

"I have Alex squared away in a safe house," Saguru reported as he joined them looking tired and wary. He was holding a bottle of liquor and a glass.

"Play time is over, Hakuba," Heiji frowned. "It's only a matter of time before they come after us. The tall one, the way he used a knife, ex-Marine, probably Force Recon."

"You ID's a guy off his knife-fighting style?" Kid asked, eyebrows raised.

"It's a very distinctive style," Heiji snapped.

Saguru sighed, pouring himself a glass of liquor before placing it on the table and taking a swig from the actual bottle.

"For later," he said when he saw Shinichi's incredulous look. Shinichi only wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"I didn't sign up for any of this," Shiho said softly. "What I did before… nobody got hurt."

"I stole mostly jewels and works of art for a living," Kid frowned.

"I never actually hurt anybody with my cons," Shinichi said, crossing his arms.

"I actually hurt people, so…" Heiji shrugged.

"Hakuba, if anything had happened to this Rider kid-" Shinichi started but Saguru cut him off.

"You know, you guys called on me," Saguru snapped. "You remember? You asked me to run the crew, agreed to play by my rules. Now walk out if you have a problem with that. Walk out any day if you have a problem with that. It's simple."

They all traded hesitant looks.

"We finish this one," Heiji said at last.

"Just one," Kid nodded.

"…So how do we hit them?" Shiho asked.

"Congressman Horowitz," Shinichi sighed, not looking happy. "He's our in. Looked me straight in the eye and told me he'd never even heard of the shooting."

"So?" Kid asked.

"Guy was fidgety and when a person looks someone dead in the eye like that unblinkingly, you know they're making the effort to lie. Especially men if they have something to hide. Funny how people think that that works. His stare was too intense. Word of advice? Blink at least once if you're going to lie and keep a relaxed posture."

"All right," Saguru sighed. "Horowitz is Sayle's pet Congressman. Let's see if we can get him to bite. The best way to get two people to reveal a secret is to get them to turn on each other."

Shiho, Kid and Heiji nodded before leaving. Saguru watched them go, taking another swig from his bottle. Shinichi got up from his seat and snatched the bottle from Saguru.

"Shall I put this away for you?" Shinichi all but snapped as he left.

"Didn't sound like a question," Saguru called after him.

Once Shinichi was gone, Saguru picked up the glass he'd set down earlier and took a sip from that.

"Yer gonna drink yourself ta death, one a' these days."

Saguru jumped, not expecting anyone to have stayed behind. He turned around and saw Heiji lounging in his chair as if he'd never left; packing away the stuff that had been in the attacker's bag.

"Maybe," Saguru sighed, setting the glass back down and took a seat at the table.

"Ya do that when things get personal," Heiji noted, nodding at the half-empty glass. "Ya know our client, don't ya? Ya've been callin' him Alex. And he called ya James back at the hospital. Ya close?"

"No," Saguru shook his head. "But our mothers know each other from their University days before they got married and the Riders moved here to the U.S. Alex and I didn't meet until I went in to speak to him about the job."

Heiji nodded, standing back up.

"Don't get too drunk, man," he said, "else I tell Kudo where ya keep yer hard liquor."

Saguru snorted, a small smile forming on his lips. "I have a high tolerance. I'm not even buzzed yet."

"Keep it tha' way," Heiji nodded. "Ya can get smashed afterwards."

"Noted," Saguru nodded, downing the rest of his glass.

Heiji shook his head, but left the other man alone.


End file.
